Low Battery
by Yondaime Namikaze
Summary: "Hiro entered SFIT at the age of 15 at the age of 19. It was the best day of his short life. The day after was not quite so fun." An after-graduation party, thrown by Hiro's friends, brings out a new side to a certain genius. Who knew that such a serious person like Hiro Hamada could act so much like low-battery Baymax?
1. Nervous

**A new Big Hero 6 story! This one was originally going to be a one-shot, but then I decided to expand it because it was getting way too long to be a one-shot. That tends to happen any time I write a one-shot. Either they are way short or I have to end up turning them into chapter stories. **

**I hope that you enjoy this short (for a chapter story, I mean) piece of work!**

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Chapter 1: Nervous

Hiro Hamada was the smartest kid to attend San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. That much was known. Entering at age 15, Hiro graduated at the age of 19. It was the best day of his short life. The day after was not quite so fun.

The Big Hero 6 gang along with Hiro's Aunt Cass attended the ceremony. Aunt Cass had obsessed over Hiro when the young man, dressed in his graduation gown, had walked downstairs. "Look at you! All grown up! Ready for today?"

"Yeah, sure, Aunt Cass," Hiro murmured, trying to preoccupy himself with his food.

As Hiro pushed his food across his plate, Baymax waddled into the café. "Hello, Hiro."

"Hey, Baymax," Hiro replied instantly without looking up.

"Your voice appears to be lacking its usual tone," Baymax spoke up, robotically. "I will now scan you to determine the problem."

"No, don't scan me," Hiro urged. "I'm…"

"Scan complete," Baymax confirmed.

"Fine," Hiro finished, "What's 'wrong' with me, Baymax?" Hiro consented in an almost bored tone.

"Your neurotransmitter levels are lower than usual and your nerves appear to be shaky. This indicates that you are nervous. Would this have something to do with today's ceremony?"

Aunt Cass's attention was piqued when she heard Baymax conclude that her nephew was nervous. She had noticed that Hiro seemed to be acting "off" and she could all-but guess that it had something to do with today's events. When her nephew did not reply to Baymax, that was all the answer she needed. "Hiro! There's no reason to be nervous! You should be exited!"

Hiro continued to push his breakfast around on his plate. "Yeah…I know. It's just…I always figured Tadashi would graduate before me. I always imagined that...Tadashi…"

Though Hiro's voice choked up, Aunt Cass knew what her nephew would have said. She had always envisioned Tadashi standing beside her in the crowd, cheering on Hiro as he took the honored walk across the stage. "I know, Hiro," she comforted her nephew. As she pulled him into an unreturned hug, she caught a glimpse of the clock nearby. "Oh no! It's so late already! We need to go!"

Sighing as he pushed his chair from the table, Hiro prayed that he could make it through the ceremony without suffering a breakdown…or passing out from nervousness.

888

The ceremony was to be held in the newly-built exhibition hall. As the building came into view, Hiro felt the rise of a panic attack. Though the building had been opened several years ago, Hiro refused to set foot inside it. He did not care how similar or different it was to the old building. Every time he saw the building, flashbacks of that night always played before Hiro's eyes. Occasionally, Hiro's professors had arranged for classes to be held in the new exhibition hall. On these days, Hiro would "take a sick day" to avoid the flashbacks. Aunt Cass had been very understanding and even assisted when Hiro had to take extended absences (which was rare).

Today, though, there would be no avoiding it. Hiro had to enter that building and remain inside for an extended amount of time. As the building loomed closer and closer, Hiro tried to calm his unsteady breathing in an attempt to not hyperventilate.

Despite his best efforts, Aunt Cass still seemed to notice. Squeezing Hiro's shoulder, she asked him, "How ya feeling?"

"You're talking to the founder and leader of San Fransokyo's elite superhero group. Takes a lot more than this to rattle me."

"Yep, he's nervous," Gogo spoke up from behind Hiro and Aunt Cass.

Hiro could've cried as the conversation continued to mimic the one he'd had with these very same people (excluding Aunt Cass but including Tadashi) before his presentation at the SFIT Showcase. Luckily Fred did not go into his recycling spiel like he had done last time. Hiro did not want to imagine Aunt Cass's reaction to that one. It would probably be much less forgiving and humorous than Tadashi's had been.

"Well, young man, it's time for you to go join your class and for us," Cass motioned to herself and Hiro's/Tadashi's friends, "to go find some seats." She pulled Hiro into a hug and whispered, "Good luck" into his ear.

Hiro thanked his aunt and made to pull away. However, she pulled him back into another embrace. "Last hug."

Once Aunt Cass and the others left to find seats, Hiro walked shakily to the meeting place for his class. Because he was a commuter student, Hiro did not know many of the others in his class. He recognized some faces, but could not remember their names. His only friends were the ones Tadashi had introduced him to on the night when he'd decided that he simply had to attend SFIT.

The crowd of graduating students grouped together within the meeting room and Hiro found it easy to literally "get lost in the crowd". He was still the smallest (even after going through several pubescent growth spurts) in his class.

As the start time grew closer, several SFIT faculty members assisted in assembling the class into alphabetical order. When the class was ordered, the faculty led the class out to where the presentation would take place. Hiro already felt ready to faint…and he'd only just left the meeting room.

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**Go figure…I combined the first two chapters and it's still shorter than I normally like…by over a hundred words too! This always happens when I handwrite stories…**

**Well, I hope you liked the first chapter. Next chapter details Hiro's graduation! Hopefully, it'll be posted soon. Guess we shall see.**

**Thank you all for reading and supporting Low Battery!**

**Posted: April 25, 2015**


	2. Party At Fred's House!

**Been about four months, but I figured that I'd add the next short chapter to this story. Nothing much else to say, so we'll just get right back into it.**

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Chapter 2: Party At Fred's House!

"Pomp and Circumstance" blared through the exhibition hall. There were so many cheering spectators that Hiro just knew he'd never find his aunt and friends in the crowd.

Hiro followed the processional to the chairs to take a seat. He had been seated only for a moment or two when the flashbacks started. The exhibition hall filled with "sweet tech" (as Tadashi had called it), Tadashi encouraging him during his microbots presentation, Callaghan presenting him with his SFIT acceptance letter, his talk with Tadashi on the bridge outside the exhibition hall, the exhibition hall engulfed in angry orange flames, Tadashi racing inside to save Callaghan, his own voice screaming, crying out for the brother who would never exit the exhibition hall.

The sound of music brought Hiro back to the present. He had missed the entire guest speaker's speech. This year's guest had been Alistair Krei (whom Big Hero 6 was now in pretty good terms with) and Hiro had been interested in hearing what the CEO had to say to the class of SFIT graduates.

All that remained in the ceremony now were the final procession, the closing remarks, and the informal tossing of the caps.

As the assisting faculty helped again to line up the graduating students, Hiro thought back one or two years to when the rest of Big Hero 6 (except Fred, who never attended SFIT) had graduated. Hiro had felt bad for missing out on attending their ceremony; however, he knew that he couldn't possibly have entered the exhibition hall then. The flashbacks had been much worse then. Even with the almost-daily help and medical assistance of Baymax, the effects of the flashbacks had only weakened slightly.

Like before, Hiro followed the procession toward the stage. In his hands, Hiro tightly clasped the blue notecard that he had been given before the ceremony started. The lable on the card spelled out his name, HIRO HAMADA, in big block letters. He would present the card to the announcer when he reached the stage.

His thoughts kept him preoccupied and, before Hiro knew it, he had arrived to the stage. Passing his index card off to the announcer, Hiro waited until he heard his name projected over the loudspeaker before walking across the stage. _**You're not in the new exhibition hall. You're in…the high school gym, **_Hiro had to constantly tell himself, in hopes that it would keep the flashbacks at bay. He also tried imagining the reactions from his aunt and friends when they heard "HIRO HAMADA" ring throughout the large room. Aunt Cass was probably acting like her annoying and lovable self. Honey Lemon probably had the whole thing recorded on her cell phone. The others probably just tastefully clapped along with the rest of the crowd of spectators. Well, actually, Fred could be unpredictable at times. Who knows what type of reaction he may have had!

It was over in an instant. The procession, the announcing of his name, shaking the hand of the president of SFIT, walking across the stage to take his seat and wait again. Hiro tried to breathe slowly as he waited_**. Almost there, Hamada,**_ he encouraged himself. _**It's almost over.**_

When all the students had again taken their seats, another speaker stepped forward. Hiro again tuned out the speech. _**It's just going to tell me things I already know anyway.**_

Upon the end of the closing remarks, one student tossed his cap, creating a ripple-effect until all cops rose from the group. Hiro hesitated, but eventually, with a smile, lightly tossed his own cap into the air. He'd made it through the ceremony.

The new graduates filtered outside where they were met with thundering applause from their gathered family and friends. Now that he was outside, Hiro smiled at his achievements.

Before he could react, Hiro was pulled into two simultaneous bone-crushing hugs. Around him, he could hear two females shouting proudly. _**Aunt Cass and Honey Lemon,**_ he knew.

When they released him, Hiro tried to catch his breath, but immediately felt a soft punch to his shoulder.

"Congrats, Kid. You made it."

"Yeah, somehow," Hiro answered. "Thanks, Gogo."

"Yeah! Party at my house!" Fred announced his presence loudly as he strolled over to the ground around Hiro. "You better come, Hiro! You're the guest of honor!"

Hiro glanced warily at his aunt, waiting for her answer.

"You're a college graduate now, Hiro! You don't need my permission for everything! Go have fun and keep me informed!"

Hiro smiled. "Thanks for understanding. Love you, Aunt Cass."

Fred, overhearing the conversation, informed the team. I'll let Heathcliff know to pick us up in the family limo. This will be the best!"

At Hiro's request, Heathcliff, once picking up the team, stopped briefly at Hiro's house to allow the new graduate time to change into his preferred attire and to grab the suitcase containing the charging Baymax.

Satisfied, Hiro entered the limo again and took a seat with the rest of his friends. He loaded Baymax's case beside him in the empty space and Heathcliff shut the door again.

"We should totally order pizza!" Fred decided. "Hey, Heathcliff!" he called up front to the family butler. "When we get home, could you order us some pizza?"

"As you wish," the butler answered, stoically, as he focused on driving.

The drive to Fred's house was fairly short. Hiro remembered how long it felt to walk to Fred's house from the docks. He had also been freezing and soaking wet at that time too.

Upon entering, Heathcliff disappeared, presumably to go order pizza. Fred led the group to his room which was still filled with his…oddities.

"Nice to know your…creepy relics are still here," Wasabi spoke up, sarcastically.

The group all took seats on Fred's couch and he turned on the TV. Hiro relaxed into the couch and felt contented until the feeling disappeared with a hark kick to the shin. "Ow! Gogo!" He did not even realize what he had said until he heard an inflating sound.

Fully inflated, Baymax waddled over to Hiro. "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. What seems to be the trouble, Hiro?"

Hiro frowned. "Gogo kicked me in the shin. You know, typical everday borderline violence."

Gogo scoffed. "I just figured you'd want Baymax activated."

"I will scane you for injuries." After a brief pause, Baymax reported, "You have sustained no injuries. However, you do have mild bruising forming on your lower shin. I would suggest—"

"No, no, it's okay. I'm fine, Baymax," Hiro cut off the robot's words. "Come, sit and relax with us."

"I can't relax," Baymax replied, blinking. "I am a robot."

"Then come sit." Hiro shifted to make room so Baymax could take a seat beside him.

"Hey, where'd Fred go?" Wasabi asked, noticing the school mascot's absence.

Everyone looked around and, sure enough, the comic book enthusiast was not present.

"Bathroom?" Hiro guessed.

"Don't think so," answered Wasabi, pointing to an open door in Fred's room. Though the room beyond the open door was dark, the friends could just barely make out the silhouette of a toilet.

"Maybe he went to wait for the pizza?" Honey Lemon suggested. "That was his idea after all."

"Pizza's here!" Fred called, his voice approaching the room.

The smell of pizza drifted into the room as Fred entered. He set the pizza down on the table and began to distribute the plates and utensils he'd brought.

Hiro had not realized how hungry he was until he caught the delicious scent of grease wafting from the piping hot pizza. Not wanting to listen to another long health lecture, Hiro deactivated Baymax and took a seat at the table with the rest of his friends. This was the table where he had down out the symbol of Project Silent Sparrow.

Knowing that his aunt probably had some extravagant celebratory dinner planned, Hiro had only wanted to eat a couple slices of pizza. However, it was hard to resist the delicious greasiness of the melted cheese upon baked dough. Before he knew it, Hiro had eaten three large slices and could eat no more. _**I'd better let Aunt Cass know to hold off on her planned dinner,**_ he reminded himself as he pulled out his phone to text his aunt.

When everyone was finished eating, Fred placed the leftovers on a plate and slid the plate into the mini-refrigerator in his room. He then took the empty pizza boxes to go dispose of them.

No one said anything. They just sat, contended, on Fred's couch and watched whatever movie it was that was playing on Fred's TV. Ten minutes passed and Fred had not yet returned. The group still thought nothing of it, though. Fred was known to mysteriously disappear from time-to-time; this was nothing new. It was approaching a half house when the friends really started to notice Fred's absence.

"Fred's been 'disposing of the pizza boxes' for almost half an hour. Should we send a search party?" Wasabi asked.

"Who knows?" answered Gogo. "It's Fred."

The group returned to waiting in silence once again. After ten more minutes, Wasabi stood up. "Okay, I'm going to search for him."

"Search for who?" Fred had returned and he was pulling a flatbed cart behind him.

"Freddie, is that…?" Honey Lemon started to ask before she was cut off by Fred.

"That's right! Our own personal beer keg!"

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**Is it sad that it's been long enough that I had to go back and remind myself if I remembered to set this story as "T"-rated? Probably. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time!**

**Thank you all for reading and supporting Low Battery!**

**Posted: August 24, 2015**


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